Chasing the Children
by Inthefire
Summary: The royal nursemaid certainly has her work cut out for her.
1. Chapter 1

"That's _my _horse!" The royal nursemaid winced as Prince Jasson began to wail. She turned around to see Prince Liam sitting on a rocking horse and Jasson beating the ground. She rushed over to the crumpled child and picked him up. "He- he's not allowed to use my horse! Papa gave it to me!" he sobbed.

"That's not true!" Liam refuted, "Papa gave it to all of us!"

"He did not!"

"Did too!"

Desperate to stop the fighting that she knew would ensue, the nursemaid interjected, "Maybe we shouldn't play with the horse today." The boys were silent for a few moments before Jasson asked, "Can you put me down, Joanna?"

The nursemaid set Jasson down gently before breathing a sigh of relief. However, her reprieve was short lived, as Jasson immediately began charging at Liam. Liam, who was now fiddling with a wooden bird, was caught unawares and forced to the ground.

Joanna let out a huge sigh. She hated to disturb the queen, but these princes were beyond her control. "That's it!" she cried. "We're going to see your mother!" She grabbed each of the boys by the hand, and pulled them down the hallway, much to their complaint.


	2. Chapter 2

Standing before the nursemaid, Liam and Jasson, the queen appraised her children thoughtfully. "I thank you for bringing this to my attention, Joanna," she said carefully.

Joanna bowed low before her queen. "It brings me pleasure to serve you, Your Majesty." She brought her eyes to those of the queen before dropping her gaze. "I am sorry that I was unable to manage them on my own, though. I feel that I have failed you."

"You must not feel that way, Joanna. It is not your duty to discipline the children of another. That is the mother's job." Suddenly Thayet swiveled her vision towards her children. "But it is also the duty of the children to listen to their mother's directions. I distinctly recall instructing you to listen to Joanna."

"But Mama─" Jasson began.

"There shall be no 'buts'. A prince should know how to act. You have misbehaved, and you will be punished, my son." A contemptuous smile crossed Liam's face, and Thayet noticed. "I have not forgotten you, Liam. You will also be punished accordingly."

Unable to control himself, Liam exclaimed, "But it's all _his_ fault!"

Thayet's mouth formed a hard line. "It is not. You took something from your sibling wrongly. For the next week, you will spend your evenings with your studies, instead of with your toys. Do you agree, Joanna? You know that you may speak your mind before me."

"Your Majesty knows best," Joanna replied.

Thayet nodded. "Very well. I trust that you will enforce their punishment."

Joanna bowed again. "Whatever Your Majesty wishes. Shall I put them to bed?"

"That would be wonderful. And thank you again, Joanna. I really appreciate all of your help." Joanna smiled and murmured her own thanks to the queen.

Liam and Jasson, however, were not quite so pleased with the outcome of the meeting. Their heads were held high, but they were still hurting from their injured pride. They stalked out of their mother's presence, their nursemaid hurrying behind them.


	3. Chapter 3

Thayet slipped into her sons' sleeping rooms, a candle in her hand. She set the source of light down on a table and gazed at small Liam and even smaller Jasson. They looked so peaceful lying there; Liam curled into a ball and Jasson sucking his thumb. Her bare feet padded across the creaking floor as she approached Jasson, brushing his hair from his forehead.

She paused momentarily, exhaling slowly. She hated to punish her children, especially those with the more stubborn natures. They always refused to meet her eyes for some time afterwards, unhappy with her decision. It was unpleasant to feel such bitterness from anyone, but to see it in her children was always heartbreaking.

But discipline was necessary, and that was the heart of the matter. She moved over to Liam, straightening his blankets. She loved her children so very much, and it hurt that she had so little time to spend with them. The light from her candle diminished as the small flame extinguished and Thayet stood, stealing one last glance of her children.

_They'll forgive me,_ she reassured herself as she slipped out of the room, _They always do. _Before returning to her chambers she visited her other children, but only momentarily. She had no apologies to make there.


	4. Chapter 4

As Liam and Jasson leaned over a map of Tortall, whispering quietly, it was quite obvious that any trace animosity between them was gone. Their attention, where previously focused on the destruction of each other, was now directed at escaping the eternity of their punishment.

"I can't stand it anymore," Jasson whined. "I want to play with my toys."

"I know," Liam agreed. "It's torture without toys. But I have a plan."

"What?" Jasson asked, his eyes going wide at the thought of a reunion with his precious toys.

"We're going to have to sneak into the playroom," Liam whispered to his brother.

Jasson gasped. "How are we going to do that?"

Liam's eyes glimmered sneakily. "Carefully. I made us a map of the hallway." Out of his pocket he pulled a crumpled scrap of paper and smoothed it onto the table.

"That looks nothing like a real map! _This_ is a real map," he exclaimed, pointing to the Tortallan map that they were to use for their studies.

"Do you have a better one?" Liam retaliated. "At least I made a map and a plan. What did you do?" As Jasson fell silent Liam smirked. "My point exactly," he said. "But that's enough talking. This is what we're going to do." Liam dropped his voice to a low whisper, and the brothers began plotting.


	5. Chapter 5

Two days later, Liam and Jasson found themselves outside their playroom in the middle of the night. "It's time to sneak in," Liam announced. "I'll keep watch. You open the door and look for any monsters inside."

"But I'm afraid of monsters," Jasson protested. "You do it."

"I'm older," Liam retorted. "You have to do what I say."

"Fine," Jasson grumbled, "But only because I love my toys more than monsters are scary." Determined to see his toys after a long hiatus, Jasson marched over to the door. He had to jump slightly to grab a hold of the doorknob firmly, but he managed. "Uh oh," he said.

"What's the matter?" Liam asked.

"It's stuck."

"What do you mean it's stuck?" Liam marched over to the door and tried to open the door. Being slightly taller, it was less of a struggle to reach the doorknob, but he failed to open the door nonetheless. He pulled with all of his might, but still the door would not budge. "I think it's locked," he finally admitted.

"What are we going to do?" Jasson asked, frightened at the thought of not seeing his toys for five more days.

"We'll get the key, of course!" Liam said, obviously annoyed at his brother's stupidity.

"Where are we going to find the key?"

Liam froze for a second, but waved his brother's question away. "We're not going to be able to do anything unless you be quiet!" Liam's mind began whirring as he tried to determine who might have a key. "Joanna," he breathed, a smile crossing his face.

"What'd you say?" Jasson asked.

"Nothing," Liam said, exasperated. "Just follow me."

"Where are we─"

"Will you just be quiet?" Liam sighed heavily before suggesting, "Why don't you just stay here? I'll come back with the key when I find it." And without giving Jasson time to respond, he swept down the hallway.

Jasson waited patiently, sitting with his back to the door. Liam was back quickly, a key dangling from his fingetips. "Found it," he said, obviously pleased with himself. Liam unlocked the door and slipped inside, Jasson following close behind.

"We're in," Jasson whispered before sprinting off to his toys. Liam grinned before doing the same. _They can't keep us in a box, _he thought, _not even close._

Later that morning, when the royal nursemaid went to wake up the princes, nothing, except that they were unusually tired, was amiss.

**Thank you for reading! And my apologies for the exceedingly short chapters, but I hope you enjoyed anyway! **

**Oh, and reviews would be much appreciated ;)**


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